The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1887-04-19


sembled TO express Irish opinions.
| Mr.. II. P.OConnOr-"Why do you not mem
tion that was present at the Chicago con-
yentlon Of 1855, sitting between O'Donoyan
silence | approved the new campaign Of
murder and arson in England"
LORD harrington said he had not noticed
tnat IN the Times, but he had seen IL asserted
with Ford.
That was lie" shouted O'Connor.
Lord Hartington-"These charges were
criminal libels II untrue, exposing the paper
was 70 criminal usnaP prosecution yet ne prosecution
Gladstone upon rising was loudly eheered.
he SAID II the bill passed the political sub
scrlQuons from America, which some OF the
| speakers had condemned were likely to In
| crease, not the Irish subscription alone, but
those humane contributions which were re-
neeting such splendid light upon America
lie and his supporters had been charged
with inconsistency In proposing coercion In
former times and opposing 1t now. lie might
ADMIT feeling OF shame over the failure of
coercion, but he did not refuse the lessons Of
experience. (Cheers) He believed and so
seemingly did the Conservatives Of 1885 that
though coercion in 1888 reduced the amount
termlned than ever TO combine. Finding no
permanent result from that course the
Liberals looked to some other
ton was to govern Ireland without coercion.
When the Liberals passed the coercion bill.
| tney passed remedial measures also. Were
the governments remedial proposals rem
edy or imposture9 (Cheers) He would
| Withdraw that expression and say illusion.
Laughterl Did the government intend 10
stand or fall by their relief bill? Before
they went to division tonight he hoped and
expected that they would give a clear, un-
mlstakaole and an unequivoeal answer to
that question. Mr.. Gladstane complained
that the government withheld from Parlia-
| lament information regarding the state Of
| crime In Ireland, Of which there had been
no sufiicient Increase TO justify the bill. The
only increase was In menacing letters. Were
these outrages9 "a voice, "Yes.") Then he
had been subject to hundreds Of Outrages
| yLaughter) But they were always perpe-
trated by what was known as ''the loyal,
cSseas party OF LELAND S Sgnee
| pious persons in the kingdom, mostly at the
| time OF the sdisestablishment of the Irish
| church. Oaughter) Proceeding to deal
| with the bill, Mr.. Gladstone contended that
acts" ought TO be set out In full.
The essence Of the bill was to suppress any
combination to secure a reduction of rent
lie repelled and repudiated all agitation,
tnat y was the crimes bill. 1t was not in
tended to suppress existent crimes known to
law, but 1t was bill that made things
fesrimes that never were crimes. Conspiracy
Wasa!geady apunishable crime, therefore,
s,io lntIouh&kO OF the conspiracy clause In
the present bfif6isgbt fairly be called non
sense. A tenant refusing TO pay rent had
| the prospect held out TO him or obtaining a
reduction by becoming bankrupt. At the
same time he would get the benefit Of -siNi.
months hard labor. Uaughter.) 1t was a
bill aimed at the nation. (Pamellite cheers)
| Boycotting which was done in England, es-
| pecially among the upper classes, was done
| from wantonness; in ireland 1t was done for
necessity; (Cheers) The more bills Of
1 ba fha
House would strengthen Parnells influence
| HE had no doubt that the bill would lead TO
| an increase Of crime and secret societies.
Legislation against nation was vain and
| futile. Combinations in Ireland could not
be suppressed The question was by whom
were those combinations to be guided? He
| maintain, by those who were responsible 10
Parliament not by secret agents. The gov
ernment We're most unwittingly going TO en-
| courage even extreme forms Of violence. In
his opinion those familiar with the idea Of
| dynamite and the dagger. looked with salts
faction upon the proceedings of the present
government. Cheers. In his view the bill
was poison. He would not present 1t to the
lips Of Ireland. 1t must be presented BY
other hands, and 1t would be an honor and
source Of happiness to him to think he was
| permitted to have the smallest share In dash
ing u 70 the ground, Mr.. Gladstone resumed
his seat amid loud cheers.
balfour and Parnell rose together, and
atter standing some time amid cheers and
counter cheers the Speaker recognized Bal
! four
Mr.. Balfoqr began by advising Sexton, If
ne could, TO bring action for libel against the
Times as the best way to refute the charges
made by that paper. As to the pledge asked
by Gladstone in reference to the land bill, he
SAID OF course the government were COM
| mltted to every bill Of first class Importance
He complained that the opposition de-
nounced the measure, which he believed
would 90 more to stop the harshness Of the
| operation OF the land law in Ireland than
anything ever proposed by the government
| OF England. He also maintained that the
government had given the House as much
statistical Information as any Of their prede-
cessors. Proceeding TO justify the bill, Mr..
Balfour said that the case against the gov
ernment as regarded boycotting was praeti-
| eally abandoned Every one knew that the
league used boycotting as means to carry
| out its object.
| Harrington here interrupted-''I take all
responsibility for the. conduct Of the league,
and brand that statement as altogether in
consistent with the facts"
Mr. Balfour thought there was no doubt
| but Mr.. Harrington would do 50. Uaughter)
In conclusion, speaking from experience, he
should say what had failed in the past fifty
i years In Ireland was not coereive but rene
| dial legislation, and much as he desired
| equal treatment for England and Ireand he
| felt,it would be useless to attempt to build
| up system of equality on the shifting
| sands of Irish lawlessness (Cheers)
Mr.. Parnell followed. He said that Mr..
| Balfour had, with characteristics unfairness,
| refused him. at time when his words
would have reached the outside world the ten
minutes he craved to refer to the vile,
bareiaeed forgery Cheers from the Irish
members) printed in the Times. He thought
he was entitled to have an opportunity to
expose this deliberate attempt to blacken his
character In time to reach the outside world.
mere was no chance now. In addition to
the passing OF this coercion act the dice had
to. be loaded. III great organs of public
opinion were to be permitted to pay miser-
able creatures 10 produce the ealumnies,
who would be safe under such eircum-
stances? When he heard OF the affair be
supposed some autograph Of his had
fallen into the hands Of person for
whom it was not intended, but when
he saw the letter he knew at once
the signature was an audacious, unblushing
| fabrication. He failed 10 understand how
the conductors of what used to be a respect
able journal could have been hoaxed and
pamboozled into publishing such letter as
his. (Cheers) Members who compared the
forgery with his signature would see only
| two letters OF the forged signature bore any
| resemblance TO his autograph, and the Times
could have seen the same He never heard
| Of nor saw any such letter till ii appeared.in
the Times (Parnellite cheers Its
/ phraseology was absurd and its purport pre-
| posterous, and every part Of 1t bore evidence
Of absolute and an irrefragible want Of
| hthuiucucoc. llc idu never Known Lnc late
Forster's life to be In danger, or
that there was any conspiracy against him.
He did not know anything of the conspiracy
OF the invinclbles, and nobody was more
surprised than himself when the blow fell
on their victims III he had been In Phoenix
Park that day he would gladly have stood
between Lord Cavendish and the dagger OF
the assassin, or between the daggers and
Burke. Irish eheers.) He had suffered
more than any other man from that terrible
deed, and Ireland had suffered more than
any other nation. IL was absolutely untrue
that the National League had any cOmmuni
cation whatever, direct or indirect, with
the Fenian organization in America. He
never had any dealings with anybody in
America in respect to the proceedings OF do
ings Of any secrets. All his sayings and do
ings in connection with Irish public
life had been open ana above board.
(Cheers) As to the bill under dis
eussi0n it was the most drastic
measure proposed since 1888. 1t would en-
power the government to subject their polt-
leal opponents to the treatment reserved for
the worst criminals in England. (Cheers.)
The great heart of the English people was,
he believed, against the bill, and he hoped
the country would make its voice heard be-
fore the committee stage was reached. He
trusted in God that the English nation and
parliament would be saved from the peril
and degradation Of the passing Of such